Bangkok leads scam cases while women and young adults face highest risk

Bangkok recorded Thailand’s highest number of online-scam complaints and largest financial losses during the week of August 9–15, while women and people aged 21–30 remained the groups most frequently victimised, according to police.

The Anti Cyber Scam Center (ACSC) received 6,060 complaints through the Thai Police Online system during the seven-day period, with total reported losses of THB260 million.

• Compared with August 2–8, the number of complaints fell by 364, while total losses declined by more than THB3 million.
• Fraud involving goods and services remained the most commonly reported category, accounting for 4,682 complaints or 77.3% of the total.
• Financial and investment scams, however, caused the greatest monetary damage. Losses approached THB80 million, representing approximately 30.7% of the total value reported during the week.

How to check an investment

The ACSC urged people to check investment opportunities carefully, particularly after financial and investment scams caused the week’s highest losses.

People can reduce their exposure to investment fraud by taking the following precautions.

Check the investment through SEC Check First

Investors should search for the company using the Securities and Exchange Commission’s SEC Check First application and confirm that:

• The company’s name appears clearly in the system.
• Its status shows that it is authorised or permitted to continue operating.

Check the receiving account before transferring money

• The account name should match that of the authorised company.
• A request to transfer investment funds to a personal account should be treated as a serious warning sign.
• Frequent changes to corporate accounts used to receive investments or return profits may indicate fraud.
• Anyone noticing unusual account details should stop the transfer and contact the company directly through its official channels.

• Its licence number and licence category are clearly stated.
• Its registered address and contact details can be verified.
• Its executives and investment advisers are correctly listed.

Beware of fraudulent applications

• Scammers can create applications that imitate the names, logos and designs of legitimate services.
• Fraudulent applications may appear in the App Store or Google Play, meaning their presence there does not automatically prove that they are legitimate.
• Investors should be cautious about unusually high returns or pressure to make an immediate decision.

Provinces with the most complaints

The three provinces with the highest number of reported complaints during the week were:

1. Bangkok: 138 complaints and THB63.3 million in losses.
2. Nonthaburi: 36 complaints and THB260,000 in losses.
3. Chiang Mai: 27 complaints and THB1.1 million in losses.

Women continued to fall victim more frequently than men, while people aged 21–30 remained the highest-risk age group for several consecutive months.

Among victims aged 21–30, the three most frequently reported types of fraud were:

• Scams involving purchases of goods or services.
• Scams involving impersonation.
• Scams offering other purported benefits.

Border monitoring operations

The ACSC also reported the results of border surveillance and enforcement operations during the week:

• A Thai man was arrested in Sa Kaeo after allegedly crossing the Thai–Cambodian border illegally. Authorities said he had travelled to work for an online gambling operation.
• The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) received 207 Thai nationals repatriated from Laos. Police said they gave consistent accounts of working as online gambling website administrators at the ST Vegas Entertainment International Club in Vientiane. They were referred for proceedings under Thailand’s employment-placement law.
• Police arrested one Thai national and five Chinese nationals on Highway 1 in Na Saeng subdistrict of Lampang’s Ko Kha district.
  
  The Thai driver reportedly told investigators that he had been paid THB20,000 to transport the Chinese nationals, who allegedly entered Thailand illegally from Laos through a natural border crossing. They were reportedly travelling from Chiang Rai to Tak.
  
  The Chinese nationals reportedly said they had been recruited to develop applications for monthly salaries of THB100,000. Authorities were examining possible links to an online scam network.
  
  The Thai national was charged with concealing and assisting foreign nationals in evading arrest. The five Chinese nationals were charged with entering Thailand without permission.

Transfers stopped before reaching scammers

During the same week, the ACSC worked with banks and local police to intervene in 13 cases.

The authorities stopped transfers worth more than THB600,000 before the money reached accounts believed to be controlled by scammers.

ACSC assists 21-year-old victim

In one high-value case, the ACSC coordinated with Khao Wiset Police Station in Trang to assist a 21-year-old man who had lost more than THB580,000.

The victim received a call from someone claiming to represent AIS headquarters. The caller alleged that a telephone number had been registered in the victim’s name in Ranong and linked to money laundering.

The victim was then instructed to add a Line account purporting to belong to Mueang Ranong Police Station and was connected to people posing as police officers.

They allegedly threatened him and instructed him to prove that he was not involved in the supposed offence by transferring money for examination by the Anti-Money Laundering Office.

The victim made three transfers and lost more than THB580,000.

Authorities subsequently explained the deception, advised him to request an account freeze through hotline 1441 and coordinated the filing of a formal police complaint.